Report 4 | May 3, 2010
The time for my stay in Donetsk is drawing to a close. Tomorrow I will get up around 5:00 a.m. and got to Marioupl where we have shipped two containers. The congregation there was established by Jim Akridge in 1994. Vadim Einchenko is the evangelist in Marioupl and is doing a good job. He and Jim have worked hard to make the congregation strong and the arrival of these two containers and their distribution will definitely help their efforts to reach out into the community. The two containers arrived in late March and they are just now completing the usual Customs clearance. I am scheduled to visit with Vadim and the Consignee (Peter) and make a few other appointments while there. Tonight I received a call from Vadim’s wife that another appointment has been scheduled for me and Vadim with a Donetsk Oblast official tomorrow afternoon. So that means the day will be spent keeping a tight schedule.
The opportunity to meet with another Donetsk Oblast official prior to our scheduled meeting with the Oblast Vice-Mayor is good. This will give me an opportunity to explain clearly the problems I want to address with the Vice-Mayor and (hopefully) that news will quickly make its way to the Vice-Mayor’s office and I will be saved the time of explaining the problem. In that case, the problem will be gone before it can be discussed.
Early this morning I received a call from one of the Supreme Soviet Deputies that has been very helpful in our efforts (he holds a position similar to that of our U.S. Senators). Nicholi Stephanovich asked when I was going to be in Kyiv and Tanya told him we were leaving Donetsk early on Thursday and were going to Ivano-Frankivsk but would have about a six hour layover at Borispol in between flights. He said that the National Prosecutor was ready to know what our next steps were to be regarding the complaints I had filed against Ukraine Port Customs and some other hindering people. Nicholi Stephanoivch said we need to meet to discuss what we should do because it is better if we work in tandem rather than each of us trying to address the situations on our own. So as soon as I arrive in Borispol airport I will go into Kyiv and meet with this good man.
My day today was spent going shopping for food and other items that some elderly women needed. The open market was, as usual, quite an experience. By the time the shopping spree had ended I was carrying homemade butter, some kind of fish that were either frozen or very hard from some unknown cause, fresh veggies, “sour milk,” some freshly cut up chicken pieces, and about 40 pounds of other most interesting things! The day’s visits went well and it was rewarding. I returned to my room to catch up on email communications and hurriedly had to reply to several urgent issues. Just as I was in the midst of that task my laptop battery died and the screen went black…and so I started all over again… Now it is almost 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. will come much too quickly, so I am signing off! Goodnight!
John L. Kachelman, Jr.
Donetsk, Ukraine
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